by Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports

by Tom Pelissero, USA TODAY Sports

MINNEAPOLIS - It's increasingly looking like a matter of when, not if, coach Leslie Frazier will be fired by the Minnesota Vikings.

He has one year left on his contract and Sunday's 35-10 smackdown at the hands of the Carolina Panthers was the ugliest at the Metrodome since a 31-3 loss to Green Bay in 2010, a day before Brad Childress was canned.

Most troubling for a defensive-minded head coach such as Frazier is the disconnect between the way the Vikings practice and the coverage breakdowns that keep occurring on Sundays.

"When you lose, things change," Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said. "When you lose, heads roll. That's just the way it is. Players, coaches ... I don't know who's going to make it to the end of the season."

The impact of coaching on NFL success can't be overstated, and Frazier and his staff - whose Vikings teams have been outscored 108-27 in three games out of the bye since 2011 - aren't the only ones trying to figure out how to regain playoff form.

The Houston Texans' 38-13 home loss to the St. Louis Rams raised the volume on questions about coach Gary Kubiak, who's an offensive coach with a quarterback that seems to be going the wrong direction .

Like Kubiak, Atlanta Falcons coach Mike Smith hasn't translated regular-season success to the playoffs and has seen Super Bowl hopes sour quickly in 2013. And a fourth 2012 playoff team, coach Mike Shanahan's Washington Redskins, are 1-4 after losing to the Dallas Cowboys.

The common denominator with these coaches: contracts that are believed to expire after the 2014 season.

Firing a coach with a recent track record like Smith's seems unlikely. Even Kubiak and Shanahan don't appear to be in imminent danger. But eating one year of a deal is rarely cost-prohibitive. In a win-now business, few can feel safe.

- Has any team ever started 5-1 with as many issues as the New England Patriots? They remain as hard-up for weapons in the passing game as any team, with tight end Rob Gronkowski still awaiting medical clearance and wide receiver Danny Amendola knocked out (literally) again. Yet quarterback Tom Brady overcame multiple near-misses on Sunday's final drive and hit wide receiver Kembrell Thompkins for the 17-yard winner with five seconds to go - completing a rally against a Saints defense that had the Bears totally flustered a week earlier.

- Kansas City Chiefs players continue to cite the coaching staff as a huge factor in their 6-0 start. And it's not just head coach Andy Reid, who has brought stability to a program that went to hell and back in 2012. Look no further than the secondary, where there's a nice mix of experience (33-year NFL coaching veteran Emmitt Thomas) and youth (first-year coach Al Harris, who retired after the 2011 season). They have players' ears, and that goes a long way.

- The Texans fans who cheered quarterback Matt Schaub's injury got what they deserved - a pick-six thrown by T.J. Yates, who got a roaring ovation upon entering. Schaub has been awful the past month. There's little chance of him collecting a $10 million base salary for 2014, when he'll be 33 years old. But rooting for any player to get hurt, much less a seven-year starting quarterback coming off a Pro Bowl season, is exactly what Schaub's teammates said: barbaric, disgusting and classless.

- Panthers quarterback Cam Newton put on a show Sunday while another member of the 2011 QB class, Christian Ponder, watched from the Vikings' sideline as a backup. The other QBs taken in the first five rounds of that draft: Jake Locker (hurt), Blaine Gabbert (hurt), Andy Dalton (struggling this season), Colin Kaepernick (up and down), Ryan Mallett (backup), Ricky Stanzi (backup), T.J. Yates (backup) and Nathan Enderle (out of work). No question, it's the toughest position to scout because of all the variables involved.

- Vikings GM Rick Spielman has met twice with Christian Ponder since the signing of quarterback Josh Freeman. The Vikings gave Ponder 29 starts to even out his play, and it hasn't happened yet. Don't overlook the contract aspect in the big picture: Freeman signed only for one year, Cassel can void his deal after the season and a decision is due on Ponder's fifth-year option, too.

PETERSON PERSEVERES

Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson said he never considered sitting out the game, even after the 2-year-old son Peterson went to visit in the hospital Thursday in Sioux Falls, S.D., passed away Friday, the victim of alleged abuse by a man who was dating the boy's mother.

This was supposed to be Peterson's therapy, and perhaps it was, even after an embarrassing 35-10 loss to the Carolina Panthers ended his trying week under a hail of boos at the Metrodome and left the Vikings reeling out of their bye week at 1-4.

"It was tough. It's a crazy situation," said Peterson, who was back for Friday's practice and attended Saturday's walk-through and team meetings as usual. "Anytime you lose a child ... it hurts. I can't describe it. But I've got a good supporting cast surrounding me, and I'll be good."

Peterson declined to get into details about the extent of his relationship with the son - "We just got blown out (by 25) points, so let's focus on football and what the Minnesota Vikings can do to get better" - and teammates downplayed the impact of the situation on their play.

But the topic was unavoidable Sunday, with signs in support of Peterson visible in the crowd of 63,963 and the reigning MVP addressing teammates just before he took the field.

"He said, 'I'm going to give it my all, and I expect you guys to do the same,' " tight end Kyle Rudolph said. "For a guy like that, how can you not?"

Trouble was, the Vikings failed to match their leader.

They committed turnovers, took ill-timed penalties, didn't score a touchdown until the final minute and had one brutal defensive breakdown that resulted in a 79-yard touchdown pass - one of three thrown by Cam Newton, who ran for another as the Panthers' lead rose to 32.

Peterson finished with 10 carries for 62 yards and three catches for 21. His 31-yard run in the third quarter was the Vikings' longest gain on a day they held the ball for less than 24 minutes and seemed overmatched against a Panthers defense that kept blitzing until it was over.

"I thought (Peterson) handled it as well as you can," Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. "It's a difficult, difficult situation and there are a lot of people trying to support him within the organization, his teammates as well."

Police arrested Joseph Robert Patterson, 27, who was initially charged with aggravated assault and aggravated assault on an infant. Sioux Falls police said additional charges are being considered.

Patterson has a prior domestic abuse record with a different woman and child, having pleaded guilty to simple assault in an incident last year involving an adult female and juvenile male.

Sioux Falls police said Patterson recently started a relationship with the mother of the victim. Patterson appeared in court Friday morning in Canton, S.D. His bond had been set at $750,000 in cash before the boy's death.

Peterson said he prayed for the strength to get through the game. He said he doesn't "ask people to understand my mindset and how I think" in judging his decision to play. He planned to relax Sunday evening with family, have a good meal and then get back to work Monday morning.

Asked where the team goes from here, Peterson said, "Have some faith, man. In life situations (or) here with football, you've got to continue to believe, man. We've got to get everyone with that same mindset, to believe no matter what the circumstance is.

"We're 1-4. We've got to believe and have the faith that we're going to be able to turn around and accomplish our goals. That's the way I think. We just need to get everyone thinking the same way."

0 - Blackouts through the first six weeks of the season after ESPN and local sponsors bought enough of the remaining tickets for Monday's Chargers-Colts game to ensure it'll be televised locally in San Diego.

3 - Kalil siblings who performed at the Metrodome on Sunday. Matt played left tackle for the Vikings, older brother Ryan played center for the Panthers and sister Danielle sang the national anthem.

4 - Receptions Colts wide receiver Reggie Wayne needs to become the ninth player in NFL history with 1,000 career catches. The Colts would also become the first team to have two players with 1,000 catches - Marvin Harrison ranks third all-time with 1,102.

5 - Consecutive games in which a Texans quarterback has thrown a pick-six after backup T.J. Yates tossed one to Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree.

79 - Years since two teams in the same division started 6-0 before the Chiefs and Broncos did it Sunday. The Lions and Bears, then in the Western Division, each started 10-0 in 1934.

210 - Career wins (including postseason) as a head coach for the Patriots' Bill Belichick, surpassing Chuck Knoll for fifth all-time.

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MONDAY PREVIEW

Indianapolis at San Diego,

8:40 p.m. ET, ESPN

The Chargers are 0-3 this season against AFC foes, and the Colts might be the most talented team they've seen yet. Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck lit up one of the NFL's best pass defenses in last week's win vs. the Seattle Seahawks. This week, he gets to face one of the worst.